Marconi's bosses planned a move into telecoms that went disastrously wrong, yet walked away with £1m and £300,000 respectively. When they left in 2001, the firm was worth 3% of its value a year earlier.

Sir Fred Goodwin

The former RBS boss left the part-nationalised bank this year with a £703,000-a-year pension. He has so far resisted calls to give some of it back.

Stan O'Neal

O'Neal departed as chief executive of Merrill Lynch in 2007 with $160m. A year later, the bank was so crippled by sub-prime losses that it had to be taken over by Bank of America.

Bob Nardelli

The boss of US hardware chain Home Depot was ousted with a deal put at $210m, despite failing to maintain the firm's growth or keep up with rivals.